Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. today congratulated the Adams County Communications Center and the Governor’s Office of Information Technology for securing $15.4 million in broadband grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Adams County Communications Center won $12.1 million to provide wireless high-speed Internet access to 2,000 first responders, including police officers, firemen and paramedics in Adams County, the Denver International Airport and neighboring towns. The Governor’s Office of Information Technology won $3.3 million to continue broadband mapping and planning activities throughout Colorado.

“The Recovery Act is helping emergency responders to use advanced communications technology to improve response times and overall public safety across Adams County, nearby communities and at DIA,” said Gov. Ritter. “These are the latest of a series of significant grants that will accelerate the expansion of the state’s high-speed Internet network, which is critical to reaching our educational and economic goals.”

Both awards came from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunication and Information Administration.

The Adams County Communications Center project will build out a wireless LTE (Long Term Evolution) or 4G cellular data network for mobile data needs for emergency responders. In addition, the project will connect 911 call centers, municipal governments, and school districts in Adams and Jefferson counties, Commerce City, Brighton, Thornton, Northglenn and several nearby unincorporated areas. An additional match of $5.9 million will come from the Adams County E-911 Emergency Telephone Authority and Denver International Airport, who have provided pre-existing fiber optic cable, broadcast towers and staffing, to bring the overall project funding to $18 million.

The award to the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) will allow Colorado to continue a mapping project started in November 2009 with $2.1 million from the Recovery Act. The new grant extends OIT’s mapping project for another three years and supports efforts to increase public use of high-speed Internet.

“We are thrilled to be given the opportunity to continue our broadband mapping and planning work,” said Acting State Chief Information Officer Leah Lewis. “The possibilities are endless for what broadband can do for an individual, a community, and the state as a whole.”

In addition to the $1.8 million for continued broadband mapping, OIT will spend approximately $1 million to improve interactive distance learning opportunities at K-12 schools, and $300,000 to increase government transparency and citizen engagement through the development of a web-based portal that will make state data widely available. The remaining dollars will support a statewide database of spatially located addresses critical for accurate broadband mapping and many other state activities.

So far, Colorado entities have secured more than $130 million in Recovery Act funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve access to high-speed Internet. Colorado expects to receive at least $7.3 billion from the Recovery Act across more than 200 programs. More information is available at www.colorado.gov/recovery.